


A Happy Family

by tkstrands



Series: Claire, Neil & their family [1]
Category: The Good Doctor (TV 2017)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Kid Fic, Pregnancy, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:08:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25127515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tkstrands/pseuds/tkstrands
Summary: After the earthquake, Claire and Neil have been together for some months now and a happy news is soon going to be revealed.
Relationships: Claire Browne/Neil Melendez
Series: Claire, Neil & their family [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1830694
Comments: 18
Kudos: 53





	A Happy Family

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Posting here with a soft pregnancy fic because I love kid fics and I love melendaire so why not associate both? English isn't my first language so I apologize for any mistakes and while I tried to find stuff about pregnancy and birth I'm sure they're will be some mistakes there too!
> 
> Also, if you want to help getting Melendez back after that shit show of a season 3 finale you can check out this petition! Maybe it'll help.  
> Petition link: http://chng.it/CTfd2WtFWK

Claire watched as the two small lines appeared on the test she just took, confirming what she was thinking for a week now. She put the test on her bathroom counter and leaned on her elbow, putting her head in her hands and closing her eyes before sighing. A baby. A baby was growing in her body. Claire took one hand away from her face and start caressing her belly.  
She had to tell Neil, they had been together for 6 months after he miraculously survived the earthquake. They didn’t talk about kids or marriage or anything like that yet because it was way too soon but she knew how much he wanted to have a kid, a family. And now, their baby was going to be there soon enough. Her alarm started to ring in her apartment and she got out of her thoughts, putting on her clothes and leaving to work.

Claire succeeded to avoid Neil or any of her close colleagues as she made her way to the locker room. She changed into her work clothes and went in the ER, joining Shaun, Morgan and Alex. The formers were fighting about something while Shaun was busy on his phone, probably texting Lea. Dr Lim arrived soon enough and gave them each a patient. Claire started working on the broken leg of a 20 years old man, she decided to put a cast on him. 

“Dr Browne. Casts are usually nurses’ work.”

Claire stilled, recognizing the voice of her boyfriend, before turning around.

“I know, I just wanted to concentrate on something simple this morning. As long as it’s quiet.” Claire said with a smile. 

She watched as Neil smiled too, a small dimple appeared on the left of his mouth that she always liked to kiss. He looked amazing, he always did, she always thought that Neil Melendez was the most beautiful man she’s ever seen and the whole hospital was agreeing with her point, considering every few stares she saw from doctors and nurses when they were walking within the hospital. Seeing her frozen, Neil frowned and softly put his hand on her shoulder.

“Are you okay?” 

Claire nodded and smiled at him once again, his frown was still there but he softly smiled at her too and leaned in to kiss her forehead. 

“I love you.” Neil whispered against her skin before squeezing her shoulder and leaving to see Alex’s patient. 

Claire sighed before taking a deep breathe and concentrate on her work again. 

“What are you hiding from him?”

She looked up and saw the patient looking at her, an eyebrow raised. 

“Nothing.”

“Come on, I know that smile, it’s the “I’m not doing great but I don’t want you to know” smile. I do that to my partner all the time when I’m not okay.” 

Claire looked at him before standing up, she turned and watched as Neil was in the middle of a talk with Alex. 

“I have to go.” Claire said, calling Nurse Johnson to take care of the cast of her patient.

Claire ran out of the ER to the ob-gyn floor, she avoided any colleagues and opened one of the office, hoping it was empty. It wasn’t. 

“Claire, what are you looking for?” Asked Lila, the gynecologist, whom Claire liked a lot.

“I need an ultrasound.” 

“What? Wait, are you -”

“Possibly. So please, Lila.” Claire asked. 

Lila quickly nodded and made a movement, asking Claire to lay down. Claire moved around the room and laid down on the bed, pulling up her shirt to show her tummy. Lila went to sit besides her and took the transducer before putting it on Claire. Lila watched the screen before stopping and smiling softly. 

“Well, you were right. Congratulations Claire, you’re going to have a baby. You’re about 4 weeks pregnant.” 

She cleaned up Claire’s tummy from the gel and smiled at her. Claire lets out a small laugh and sat up. 

“Are you going to tell Dr Melendez? If I assume correctly that-”

“Yes, he’s the father. And I should tell him quickly, right? Before I start showing too much.”

“Well, considering you’re dating, in love and soon enough you’ll be married.” Claire blushed at that. “I encourage you to tell him, it’s not like he’ll get mad.” 

“You’re right.” Claire nodded and Lila pat her arm softly before standing up. 

“Guess we’ll see each other soon enough.”

Claire giggled and left the room, shaking her head and heading to the ER. She avoided colliding with Morgan who seemed to be running to the lab and Claire pushed the door, trying to see where Neil was. 

“Browne?”

She turned around and saw Lim looking at her, frowning. 

“Where were you?”

“I had to do something. It’s, personal.” 

“Alright…” Lim said, still frowning before turning to keep talking with a nurse.

“Excuse me, do you know where Dr Melendez is?”

“He went to surgery ten minutes ago.”

Claire nodded before going to the operating room and observing her boyfriend performing a surgery along with Shaun and Alex. She sat in the viewing area and waited as he did his job perfectly. He looked up once, saw her and she could see small wrinkles appear on the side of his eyes as he smiled at her behind his mask. She waved at him and he looked down, softly shaking his head.  
When the surgery ended, Claire left the viewing area and joined Neil who was talking with Shaun, he saw her immediately and finished his talk with Shaun before walking up to her. 

“Hey love, you okay?” His smile disappeared and he started frowning.

“Yes? I just- I just need to talk with you about something. Can we go to your office?”

“Sure. Of course.” 

He took her hand and lead her to his office, talking about his surgery on the way. Neil leaned on his desk, taking both of Claire’s hands in his and let her stand in front of him. Neil watched her, eyes full of love and worry.

“So, what did you wanted to talk about?” He asked, squeezing softly her hands.

Claire took a deep breath and took one of his hands in hers before putting it on her covered tummy. She looked up at him and saw him frown before the frown went away and a confused look took control of his face.

“Are you-”

“Pregnant. Yes.” Claire said, nodding and smiling at him.

Few seconds later, a huge grin appeared on Neil’s face and he hugged her tightly before lifting from the floor and turning around, holding her and kissing her cheek multiples times. Claire giggled and Neil let her back on the ground.

“We’re going to be parents!” He said, grinning hugely.

“We’re going to be parents.” 

They smiled at each other and Neil cupped Claire’s face before he started to kiss her. They kissed for a while before a cough interrupted them. They separated and saw Glassman watching them with an annoyed look.

“Sorry.” They both said at the same time, their hands finding the others to hold it.

“I let it pass this time. Dr Melendez, you’re needed in OR four. Dr Browne, I’m convinced you have some work to do in the ER.” 

Claire nodded and kissed Neil’s cheek quickly before leaving his office. 

******

Neil walked into Claire’s apartment, finishing his day later than her and stopped in the doorway before grinning like an idiot at the sight in front of him. Claire was asleep on her couch, one arm over her eyes to hide from the light, the other was softly resting on her belly. He took off his coat, locked the door and walked to her before squatting on the side of the couch, he raised one hand and softly caressed her cheek. She chased it away like his hand was some kind of fly before groaning softly.

“Claire.”

“Babe.” 

“Mi amor.”

Claire opened one eye and looked at Neil who was shaking his head, still smiling. He took one of her hand and helped her stand up, still fuzzy from her nap.

“Let’s sleep in an actual bed.”

Claire nodded and stretched, yawning. She walked to her bedroom, closely followed by Neil who turned off the TV and lights. Once in her bedroom, he went to the bathroom, free his hair from the gel and took his shoes, socks, shirt and pants off before joining her under the covers. She smiled up at him and he leaned to kiss her forehead, cheeks and lips. 

“How was your day?”

“Good. Little boring, didn’t have much to do in the ER but I still saw some interesting patients.” Claire answered, snuggling against his chest.

Neil nodded, putting one of his arm around her shoulder and kissing the top of her head. He sighed, being happy to be close to her after a long day of work. He felt her almost falling asleep on him so he softly whispered her name.  
“What?” She replied with a groan.

“You’re happy, right? With the - you know - the baby?”

Claire raised up from her spot and frowned down at him.

“Of course I am. Why would I not be?”

“I don’t know, we just never really spoke about having kids.” Neil said with a shrug.

Claire shook her head and kissed the tip of his nose before snuggling back in her rightful place. 

“Well I want kids, with you, now let me sleep.”

Neil chuckled and kissed her head before leaning back on the bed and turning off the light. Sleep didn't take long to come.

****

They kept Claire’s pregnancy secret for 4 weeks now, only Lila was in the secret as she was Claire’s obstetrician.  
Neil and Claire were on their way to the first official echography Claire was going to have. Being 8 weeks pregnant, Claire already felt some of the symptoms as she kept throwing up every mornings and she was more tired than usual. Neil was helping her as much as he could but there wasn’t much he could do at the moment. He let her enter in the room first and closed it after him, making sure no one saw them enter. They already had gossips about them in the hospital, they didn’t need more. 

“Good morning you too.” Lila said smiling, gesturing at Claire to lay down once again on the bed. 

Neil walked to her and sat in the chair next to the bed, holding Claire’s hand. Lila turned on the ultrasound and an image started to appear on the screen. Neil squeezed Claire’s hand and they exchanged a smile. Lila turned to them and pointed at the screen.

“Look here, you can make out their ears and maybe their nose.”

Tears appeared in Claire’s eyes and Neil took their joined hands to his mouth and kissed the back of her hand. 

“You already know the symptoms of pregnancy so I don’t have to warn you about them. Just be careful, for the moment it should be fine but maybe slow down on the surgery when you’ll be soon to the birth.” 

Claire nodded and cleaned up her tummy. She stood up and smiled as Lila gave her her first ultrasound picture, Neil looked at it over her shoulder before kissing Claire’s temple and saying goodbye to Lila.  
Claire took Neil’s hand and they walked together to the room, next to his office, joining Morgan, Alex, Shaun and Marcus working on a new patient. 

“Need help?” Neil said, smirking.

“No, we’re fine, but thank you.” Marcus answered.

Claire went to see Morgan as she called her to the board while Neil sat on the couch next to Alex. He looked at Claire, smiling when he saw her hand resting against her tummy. 

“Claire, do you have a stomach ache?” Shaun asked, concerned. 

“What? Oh, no, I don’t but thank you, Shaun.”

“Then why are you holding your stomach?” He continued. 

Claire exchanged a look with Neil and he stood up, joining her and nodding at her.

“Well, it’s because I’m pregnant.” Claire announced, smiling. 

Morgan let out a yell and hugged Claire tightly. Alex stood up and congratulates Neil by shaking his hand before smiling at Claire and talking to her along with Morgan. Marcus squeezed Neil’s hand and nodded at Claire while Shaun stayed in his chair but still congratulated them.

***

Four months in her pregnancy, Claire was resting on the couch of the room where the residents were working, she was reading the chart of a patient while Morgan and Shaun were doing the exams, Alex was in the room too, working on his computer along with medical books. Neil was in his office, just coming back from a surgery.  
Claire frowned as she felt something in her stomach, like a small kick. She rested the chart on the table next to her and put one hand on her tummy, feeling the baby kick again. She giggled happily and called out for Neil who came in quickly.

“Everything’s okay?”

“Yes, yes. Just come feel this.”

Neil came closer and she took his hand putting it on her stomach. He felt another kick and a huge grin appeared on his face. They shared a smile and leaned in to kiss her softly, he sat on the ground next to her and kept his hand on her tummy.

“I remember doing that with Mia when she was pregnant with Kellan. Wait ‘till the baby have more strength.” Alex said, chuckling from his spot. 

Claire and Neil both smiled at him before looking in each other’s eyes, smiling like idiots. 

***

They were laying on Neil’s bed - because it was comfier than Claire’s and she loved his bed -. Claire had her head resting on Neil’s naked chest and was drawing his tattoo with her index finger while he caressed her arm and kissed her head. 

“Do you have any names ideas?” Claire asked suddenly, snuggling even more against him.

“Shouldn’t we wait to know their sex?” 

“We can make multiples names lists.” 

“That’s true. Let me think… I like Leo for a boy and Maria for a girl.” Neil said.

Claire looked up and smiled at him. 

“I like Leo too. For a girl though, I’ve always liked Amelia. Or Maya.” 

“Maya is pretty cute, I like it too.” Neil said, kissing Claire’s forehead.

Claire raised on her elbow and leaned in to kiss Neil. They exchanged soft kisses for a while before Neil nudged his nose against Claire’s.

“Leo and Maya then?” Neil asked, putting his arms around her waist. 

“Leo and Maya.” Claire nodded, grinning.

***

Nei left the OR after 5 hours of surgery, stretching his back and arms, closely followed by Audrey and Morgan. He knew Claire was soon going to have an ultrasound to discover if their baby was a boy or a girl so he was pretty excited about it. 

“Neil, wait.” Audrey said.

Neil stopped as Morgan kept walking, frowning at them but still going her way without stopping. 

“Yes?”

“It’s been so long since we had a drink. Want to come to the bar tonight?”  
Neil chuckled and looked down before shaking his head and smiled. 

“I would love too. But considering Claire can’t drink during her pregnancy, I decided to not drink either, to, you know, support her or something like that. But I can still go drink a glass of water with you, if you want?”

Audrey laughed softly and nodded.

“Water will do just fine. She’s working tonight, right?”

“Yes, she is. She has a surgery with Glassman. I have to go now though, we have an appointment.”

“Oh yes! You’ll know if the baby is a boy or a girl today, right?”

Neil nodded, smiling, and Audrey smiled at him too before they both left the OR floor. Neil joined Claire in the obstetric room, she was already laying on the bed and was just waiting for him to come. 

“Hi.” 

“Hey, love.” Neil said, kissing her softly before sitting at his rightful place.

Lila sighed and smiled at the both of them.

“Ready to know?”

Claire took Neil’s hand and smiled.

“Ready.” She nodded. 

Lila turned on the screen and Claire let out a happy chuckle when she saw their baby on the screen. Neil kissed her hand once again as Lila discovered the sex of the baby. 

“Congratulations you’re having a little boy!” 

Claire and Neil both let out a laugh and they looked at each other, smiling hugely.

“Our little Leo.” Claire said, putting her on her boyfriend’s cheek and caressing it. 

“Everything looks great. As long as you follow the advices, you’re going to have a healthy baby.” 

“I can’t wait to meet you, my Leo.” Claire whispered softly as she caressed her round tummy. 

***  
When Claire got to 6 months and a half of her pregnancy, they decided to move all of her stuff into Neil’s house and started to prepare the room for their future son, helped by Audrey, Morgan, Alex, Marcus, Shaun, Lea and even Glassman. They painted his room in beige and light grey and now they were sitting in the room, facing each other, trying to figure out how to build his bed. 

“If we can get through this, we can get through anything.” Claire said, frowning and pouting. 

Neil looked up at her from his paper and smiled; she was beautiful, the most gorgeous woman he laid his eyes on, her dark hair were put in a bun and was wearing one of his shirt. He put his focus back on the task at hand before looking up again, unable to stop looking at her. A question was on the tip of his tongue and for once, he was afraid to ask it. Claire felt his gaze on her so she looked up at him. 

“What?”

“I was just thinking.”

“About what?” Claire asked, taking his hand in hers.

“Our future.” 

Claire smiled at him and squeezed his hand. 

“Tell me.”

“Do you think about marriage and others, kids?”

Claire shyly looked down, biting her lower hips before nodding. 

“Yes, I do. For so long, I wanted to settle down with someone and just, being happy. And you, you’re the perfect person for me.” 

Neil stood up, smiling softly and sat next to her.

“I want that too. And one day, I’ll propose.”

Claire blushed and leaned in to kiss him.

“Chill with the romantics though, right babe?”

Neil laughed and nodded before putting his forehead against hers.

“Yeah, I’ll chill with the romantics.”

****  
Claire was talking about a surgery with dr Lim, dr Andrews and Shaun, they were all trying to find the best approach to not cause any complications to the patient. She was softly caressing her tummy when Shaun - as usual - finally find the right solution. They started to make their way to the OR when Claire froze, feeling cold between her legs. 

“I can’t do the surgery.” She said.

“What do you mean, Browne?” Andrews asked, turning, along with Shaun and Lim.

“My water just broke.”

Their eyes widened and quickly Lim paged Neil while Andrews went to stand besides her to help her going to the obstetrics floor.  
Lila joined her there and started all the exams necessary, telling her that she’d need few hours before going into labour. 

“Where’s the dad?”

“In surgery. He has to remove a brain tumor from a 16 years old with Glassman.” Claire said, gritting her teeth as a contraction came.

“Well, hopefully he’ll be there in time.”

“He better.” 

Lila chuckled and squeezed Claire’s arm. 

“You’re gonna be great and it’s going to be a beautiful moment, painful but beautiful.” 

“Oh I’m sure.” Claire sighed.

“Remind me, epidural? Yes or no?” 

“No.” Claire groaned, letting her head fall back on the pillow as another contraction happened. 

“Ok. It will take some time so I’ll come back later, okay?”

Claire nodded and checked her phone while Lila left the room. She sighed, no news from Neil yet, he most likely was still in surgery but she was hoping he’d finish soon. 

Claire waited few hours before the contractions started to get closer and tougher. Lila came back and checked how far along she was.

“Well Claire, you’re going to have your baby.” 

“Right now? No, no, I need Neil. Can you wait?” Claire grumbled at her tummy before groaning loudly.

“Neil or no Neil, you’re going to have this ba-”

Lila stopped when she heard screaming outside before a loud voice could be heard.

“I’m a doctor! Let me pass! Quick!”

“Is that-” Lila started. 

The door opened and revealed an out of breathe Neil, he squatted for a second before standing up right again. 

“Sorry mi amor, the surgery was long.” 

Claire smiled softly at him and made grabby hands at him to come closer. Neil did and caressed her hair back before kissing her forehead. Lila interrupted them with a cough and she stared at Neil.

“I’m going to remind you that right now you’re not a doctor, you’re a father, alright? So you stay close to Claire and help her through this.”

Neil nodded and took Claire’s hand in his before squeezing. 

After two hours and a half, Claire smiled when she heard the first cry of their newborn. One of the nurses approached Neil and gave him their son. Neil let out a small laugh and cradled his baby against his chest before joining Claire.

“Here you go, mama.” 

Claire smiled and took her son against her chest, smiling softly at him. She leaned down to kiss his forehead and Neil sat on the bed, looking down at his two loves.

“Hey Leo.” Claire whispered softly taking his little fingers in her hand.

Neil caressed his cheek and kissed the top of Claire’s head, smiling in her hair. They stayed together, all three of them until of the nurse came in, needing to do all the necessary exams.  
Once she left with Leo, Claire cuddled up to Neil, wrapping one arm around him and putting her face into his neck, exhausted. 

“Let’s wait to give him a little brother or sister, alright?”

“Anything you want, mi amor. I can’t wait to spend time with you and our son.” 

Claire looked up and they finally kissed with so much love and happiness. Their little family was finally here and they were going to be so happy, all together.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi me again, if you liked that fic, don't hesitate to give it kudos and write a comment, I might continue writing about them and Leo in a whole serie if people like it.
> 
> I'm sure I'll be posting others fics related to them because I just can't keep them out of my head haha.


End file.
